June 2011

June 25, 2011

On June 25, 1876, just 9 days before the nation's centenial celebration, George Armstrong Custer became famous. It wasn't the way he had it planned. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was the biggest victory Native Americans achieved over the U.S. Army but it was the beginning of the end, their Last Stand. The road from there led to the reservation.

In 19th Century American history, the Little Bighorn is probably the most famous battle after Gettysburg and the Alamo. While the casualties at Gettysburg far exceeded those of the Alamo and Little Bighorn combined, the latter two battles seemingly involved situations where American forces were virtually wiped out. The defenders of the Alamo were hoping for reinforcements right up until they met their end on March 6, 1836. The Little Bighorn situation differed in that Custer divided his forces on the day of the battle. The 7th Calvary was split into three battalions led by Lt. Col. Custer, Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen. One company was left under Captain McDougald to guard the pack train. The 210 men in Custer's battalion were all killed. The Reno and Benteen battalions with a combined total of about 430 men suffered about 60 casualties. How would the 7th Calvary have fared if Custer had not split his forces? It's something we'll never know.

Nathaniel Philbrick's "The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn" is the latest and maybe the best take on this famous battle which took place in southeastern Montana, just a bit north of Sheridan, Wyoming. As the jacket notes indicate, Philbrick brings to light a new source, the unpublished writings of Private Peter Thompson, begun just months after the battle. There is no claim that Thompson's story is unimpeachable but it is worth considering. Also considered among many other source documents was a memoir by Wooden Leg, a Northern Cheyene, which provides a stirring account of the attack of the Seventh Calvary. Check out the reviews online.

Philbrick also wrote a great book about the Pilgrims called "Mayflower", published in 2006.

Other books I've read on Custer:

Evan S. Connell - "Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn", published in 1984

David Humphreys Miller - "Custer's Fall: The Indian Side of the Story" (1985)

Douglas Jones - "The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer" (1976), a novel with the premise that Custer survived and was brought to trial.

James Welch with Paul Stekler - "Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians" (1994)

William O. Taylor - "With Custer on the Little Bighorn" (1996)

In August of 1992 I got to visit the Custer Battlefield while on a family vacation trip from Long Island to Colorado Springs. Among other places we got to see were Yellowstone National Park, Pike's Peak and Mount Rushmore.

June 21, 2011

This has been one of the rainiest years I can remember and I'm no stranger to the rain, soaking, drenching, monsoon like rain. But rain is a good thing. So says Luke Bryan. If you want a quick list of rain songs, listen to Gary Allan's songs about rain. I like rain about every third day so I don't have to water the lawn so tell Jo Dee Messina to bring on the rain. Since I'm retired I don't mind it as much if it's raining on sunday. I love a rainy night unless I'm going out somewhere. I enjoy playing rain songs when I'm driving in the rain. The following list of country rain songs and artists are followed by names of the writer(s) in parenthesis, then the chart position, where applicable, and the year. Occasionally, I'll add a comment.

Singles:

Songs About Rain - Gary Allan (Liz Rose & Pat McLaughlin) #12 in '03. The song mentions "Rainy Night in Georgia", "Kentucky Rain", "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Early Morning Rain". The last song title made me think only of Willie Nelson when I first heard it. The writers may have intended it to cover two songs, Willie's and Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain".

Kentucky Rain - Elvis Presley (Eddie Rabbitt & Dick Heard) #31 in 1970, (#16 on pop charts) Is it country or pop? Dick Heard produced the Nashville segments of Entertainment Tonight and Eddie Rabbitt needs no intro to country fans. Is that enough to consider it a country song?

When It Rains - The Eli Young Band (James Jeffrey Young) #34 in '07. Good song except for disappointing last two lines of the second verse: "It's good to see the world in pain, when I take a walk outside".

June 17, 2011

The starting pitcher for the New York Yankees yesterday was Brian Gordon. Who? Even serious Yankee fans, those who follow the young players moving up through the Yankee farm system, were probably asking that question. He wasn't at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or even with the Double A Trenton Thunder. Gordon, a 32 year old career minor leaguer, except for 3 relief appearances with Texas in '08, was pitching for the Phillies Triple A Lehigh Valley team. He was able to opt out of his contract because the parent club didn't call him up by June 15th. He was an outfielder until he switched to pitching in 2007.

Six years ago, Aaron Small was pretty much a career minor leaguer. According to www.baseball-reference.com, Small, who stands 6'5", was selected by Toronto in the 22nd round of the 1989 amateur draft. After cups of coffee with the Blue Jays in '94 and Marlins in '95, he hooked on with the A's in '96 until the middle of '98 when he was waived and acquired by the D'Backs. His '97 season was fairly successful, going 9 - 5 with a 4.28 ERA in 71 relief outings. He didn't make it back to the majors until '02 when he appeared once in relief for Atlanta. He didn't even have time to add cream to his coffee. He got back to the show in '04 with the Marlins but was not impressive with an 8.27 ERA in 7 relief appearances.

In January 2005 at the age of 33, he was signed by the Yankees as a free agent. He began the season with the Triple A Columbus Clippers, then the Yankees top farm team. Injuries to Yankee starters gave him a chance. When called up to the Yanks, he had won 1 and lost 4 in 10 starts for the Clippers with a rather high ERA of 4.96. It makes you wonder why he was called up. With the Yankees, he pitched in 15 games, starting 9 with 1 complete game, a shutout. His ERA was a very good 3.20 and he allowed only 71 hits in 76 innings. His record? 10 wins and 0 losses! As you can see from the following, winning 10 or more games in a single season without suffering a loss is rare. It has only been accomplished 4 times in the history of major league baseball:

Tom Zachary 12 - 0 for the 1929 Yankees (11 starts)

Dennis Lamp 11 - 0 for the 1985 Blue Jays (1 start)

Howie Krist 10 - 0 for the 1941 Cardinals (8 starts)

Aaron Small 10 - 0 for the 2005 Yankees (9 starts)

Unfortunately, Small's long awaited success didn't last. In 2006, he was released after going 0 - 3 with an 8.46 ERA in 27 innings.

Although he wound up with a no decision, Brian Gordon pitched well in his Yankee debut yesterday, well enough to earn a start next week in Cincinnati. While it is highly unlikely that he will match Aaron Small's perfect 10 - 0 record, he may ultimately have a chance to be more successful. His Triple A record was outstanding before earning his call-up. He was 5 - 0 with a 1.14 ERA in 55 innings and 9 starts. Good luck Brian.